Coin size tester preventing fraudulent operation of parking meters

ABSTRACT

A PARKING METER PREVENTING THE FRAUDULENT USE OF FALSE COINS SUCH AS IRON WASHERS, THE THICKNESS OF WHICH IS LESS THAN THAT OF THE COINS REQUIRED FOR OPERATION OF THE LATTER, TO THIS END, THE LEVER NORMALLY CONTROLLED BY THE COIN UPON ABUTMENT AGAINST A STOP AT THE END OF ITS TRAVEL SO AS TO OPERATE THE MECHANISM OF THE METER, IS PROVIDED IN REGISTRY WITH THE COIN-RECEIVING SLOT WITH A NOTCH THE BREADTH OF WHICH IS SMALLER THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE REQUIRED COINS, THUS, THE NOTCH DOES NOT PREVENT NORMAL OPERATION OF THE LEVER BY SAID REQUIRED COIN, BUT IS ENGAGED BY THE THINNER FALSE COIN THE SHIFTING OF WHICH BY THE STOP CANNOT THEREFORE ACT ON THE LEVER.

Oct. 31, 1972 F'. J. GUILLOT COIN SIZE TESTE R PREVENTING FRAUDULENT OPERATION OF PARKING METERS Filed Dec. 11, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FxA/vc /s dnc auzs 6w; 1. 0T

Oct. 31, 1972 F. J. GUILLOT 3,7

COIN SIZE TESTER PREVENTING FRAUDULENT OPERATION OF PARKING METERS Filed Dec. 11, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I H L if E I J i B R S I6 I L L 19 I 16 4 W I 8 l F/eAA c/s dnd'auas' 60/1 4 01 IQTTYJ.

1972 F. J. GUILLOT COIN SIZE TESTER PREVENTING FRAUDULENT OPERATION OF PARKING METERS Filed Dec. 11, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,701,600 COIN SIZE TESTER PREVENTING FRAUDULENT OPERATION OF PARKING METERS Francis Jacques Guillot, Le Cirins, bloc D, Les Constellations de Fabron, 56 Avenue Joseph Jourdan, 06200 Nice, France Filed Dec. 11, 1970, Ser. No. 97,246 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 23, 1970, 7002356 Int. Cl. G07f /02 US. Cl. 194-74 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A parking meter preventing the fraudulent use of false coins such as iron washers, the thickness of which is less than that of the coins required for operation of the latter; to this end, the lever normally controlled by the coin upon abutment against a stop at the end of its travel so as to operate the mechanism of the meter, is provided in registry with the coin-receiving slot with a notch the breadth of which is smaller than the thickness of the required coins; thus, the notch does not prevent normal operation of the lever by said required coin, but is engaged by the thinner false coin the shifting of which by the stop cannot therefore act on the lever.

My invention relates to those types of semiautomatic parking meters wherein the coin introduced into the slot of a member rotating in unison with the control handle slides through its edge along an arcuate slideway provided at a suitable point of its outline with an extra-thickness urging the coin against a catch-carrying lever whereby said coin causes said lever to pivot and to make its catch engage a ratchet wheel so that the latter progresses by one step together with the arrow showing the authorized duration of parking while the arrow-driving clockwork is simultaneosuly started in a manner such that the end of the reverse movement imparted to the arrow allows the coin to drop into the collecting chamber of the meter.

The arrangement of the parts is such, both as concerns the breadth of the slot in the rotary member and the length by which the coin is to travel before it engages the ratchet wheel, that only round coins the diameter of which is accurately equal to that of the coin required may operate the meter. Now experience has shown that metal or the like washers are sold in trade the diameter of said washers being equal to that of such coins and therefore may be successfully used in order to defraud the meter.

My invention, which has for its object to prevent such a fraud and to cut out its effects, covers to this end a very simple arrangement through which such washers, always thinner than the coin required, cannot produce operation of the meter; the latter not being locked by the washer, its control handle may execute its normal angular travel and allow the washer to drop into the collecting chamber of the meter after which said handle returns into its inoperative position without moving the arrow indicating the parking time and without releasing the clockwork. To this end, there is provided in the catch-carrying lever, at a point adapted to register with the edge of the coin guided by the slot, a notch the breadth of which is slightly less than the breadth of said edge so that the coin abuts against the lever which it is caused to engage operatively, said abutment being obtained no longer throughout the breadth of said edge as in the present parking meters, but only through the fraction of said edge facing the projecting ridge defining the notch in the lever. Under such conditions, a washer thinner than the coin, when urged against the extra thickness of the slideway guiding it, engages freely the notch in the lever without acting on said lever 3,701,600 Patented Oct. 31, 1972 and consequently the catch remains spaced during its angular movement with reference to the intervals between the ratchet teeth, the ratchet remaining thus unaffected by the false coin or washer.

On the other hand, if the Washer is much thinner than the coin required and the clearance between it and the walls of the slot is too large, the washer cannot be properly guided and may assume an oblique position in the slot and abut against the projecting ridge referred to and thus operate the meter. According to my invention, it is an easy matter to prevent such a possible actuation of the meter and to this end I merely cause one of the sides of the notch in the catch-carrying lever to register accurately for the inoperative position of the lever one of the flat sides of the slot adapted to receive the coin, while a permanent magnet inserted in the rotary member so as to be flush with last-mentioned side attracts the washer and urges it onto said flat side so that the Washer lies exactly in front of the notch and enters thus reliably said notch when the rotary member has reached the end of its travel.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the different parts of the parking meter improved in accordance with my invention:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section passing through the axis of the control handle.

FIG. 2 is a partly sectional view of the rotary member with the catch-carrying lever in its inoperative position.

FIG. 3 illustrates the lever when seen at right angles with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a disc-shaped part the edge of which is indented to form a ratchet wheel.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are both cross-sections passing through the rotary axis of the control handle and show respectively the operative action of a coin and the inoperative action of a false coin or washer.

FIG. 7 illustrates on a larger scale the notch formed in the lever, a coin being drawn in solid lines to show the operative abutment of the coin against the edge of the notch while the washer drawn in dot-and-dash lines enters the notch and cannot operate the meter.

FIG. 8 shows on a larger scale than that of FIG. 6 how the meter may be fraudulently operated by a washer showing a large clearance with reference to the slot in the rotary member.

'FIG. 9 shows on a larger scale an arrangement provided with a magnet cutting out prefectly such a possibility of a fraudulent operation.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective assembly of the clock movement and indicator assembly of a parking meter according to the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 1, 1 designates the control handle rotating round the axis of its spindle 0 while 2 designates the section of the casing carrying said spindle, 3 the rotary part keyed to the spindle and carrying the slotted member 4. Said member includes a support 5 to which is pivotally secured at 6 a lever L. The latter is held in its inoperative position by a spring 7 and is provided with an extension La adapted to slide in an auxiliary slot crossing at right angles the coin-receiving slots of which only the slot 8 adapted to receive coins of a predetermined denomination is to be considered in the present disclosure. The catch is constituted by a lever arm 9 (FIGS. 2 and 3) adjacent the lever L and pivotally secured thereto at 10, said catch being provided with a tail piece 11 urged by a spring 12 constituted by a steel wire against a stop 13 rigid with the rotary part 3. When the lever L rocks round its pivot 6 in the direction of the arrow F, the catch 9 rocks round its pivot 10 by an angle which is larger than that by which the lever L rocks. This arrangement amplifies thus the angular movement of the catch with reference to that of the lever L as can be readily understood from inspection of FIG. 5.

Said FIG. 5 shows how the coin M operates: when the latter carried along by the slotted member 4 reaches the extra thickness S in its arcuate slideway 14, it is urged inwardly in the direction of the arrow F1. The extension La of the lever L to be actuated by the coin is notched according to my invention as illustrated more clearly in FIG. 7. There is thus provided in the lever a notch E the breadth of which is slightly less than the thickness of the coin M so as not to interfere with the operation of the latter. In fact, the coin, engaging the notch E along the side which projects further than the other side so as to form a shoulder abuts against the shoulder 16 terminating the last-mentioned other side. Consequently, the coin causes the lever L to rock by a predetermined amount, the catch 9 rocking by a larger amount so that it engages one of the toothed intervals at the periphery of the disc D the edge 17 of which forms thus a ratchet wheel. In contradistinction a washer R may enter freely (FIGS. 6 and 7) the notch E the breadth of which is larger than the thickness of the washer so that said washer cannot act on the extension La of the lever L which remains inoperative (FIG. 2) and does not act on the ratchet wheel D during rotation of the handle 1.

It has been assumed in FIG. 7 that the washer R engages with a nice lit the notch E with one surface facing the longer side 21 of the notch, said washer being almost as thick as the required coin M. However, this may not be the case and the washer may be somewhat thinner as illustrated in FIG. 9, said washer asuming then an oblique position and abutting against the ridge 16 of the notch E facing the slot 8, whereby the washer is held in a position such that it operatively engages the lever extension. FIG. 9 illustrates an arrangement cutting out such an undesired operation.

Care is taken on the one hand to make the side 22 of the notch E in the lever when inoperative register accurately with the side 21 of the slot 8 in the rotary member while on the other hand a permanent magnet 20 is inserted in the rotary member with its outer surface flush with said side 21. It is apparent that the washer R is urged as illustrated by the arrow drawn in thick lines against the said side 21 and cannot abut against the shoulder 16 of the notch E and operate thereby the parking meter.

As seen in FIG. 10, when the control handle 1 is turned, its shaft turns and winds the clockwork H which then begins to unwind in timed relationship. Simultaneously, the cam C fixed to the shaft 0 acts by means of its lobe on the pointer F to swing the pointer about its axle 1' which rotates in the hole 2' of the plate 3' which carries the scale 4' graduated in hours and minutes. The pointer has a lateral pin 5' which guidedly rides in an arcuate slot 6' about the plate 3. This timing mechanism is of course quite old and conventional in parking meters.

What I claim is:

1. In a parking meter comprising a rotary hand-operable member adapted to execute a predetermined angular travel and provided with at least one coin-receiving slot,

4 a stationary guide engaging the edge of the coin projecting rearwardly out of the slot during said travel of the rotary member, said guide including a projection adapted to make the coin recede in the slot at the end of said travel, and a time indicator and a clockwork returning the time indicator to zero during the elapsing of the allowed parking period; the improvement comprising a catch acting on the time indicator to shift the time indicator to its predetermined operative position and to release the clockwork and a lever pivotally carried by the rotary member and pivotally carrying the catch, said lever being provided in registry with the slot with a notch the breadth of which is slightly less than that of the coin required for operation the notch having a shoulder therein on which the coin impinges during receding movement of the coin at the end of said travel thereby to operate the lever and the catch carried by the latter, any false coin thinner than the required coin when substituted for such a required coin entering the notch in the lever without moving the latter.

2. A parking meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the transverse sides of the notch in the lever extends towards the corresponding side of the slot in normally alined relationship thereby to form a shoulder bearing the coin abutting against the outer edge of the opposite shorter side of the notch.

3. A parking meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the transverse sides of the notch in the lever extends towards the corresponding side of the slot in normally alined relationship thereby to form a shoulder bearing the coin abutting against the outer edge of the opposite shorter side of the notch, the meter including furthermore means urging any false coin introduced in the slot into contact with said corresponding side of the slot throughout the extent of said coin.

4. A parking meter as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the transverse sides of the notch in the lever extends towards the corresponding side of the slot in normally alined relationship thereby to form a shoulder bearing the coin abutting against the outer edge of the opposite shorter side of the notch, the meter including furthermore a permanent magnet embedded in the rotary member and the outer surface of which is flush with said corresponding side of the slot, said magnet urging any false coin introduced in said slot into contact with said corresponding side throughout the extent of said coin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/ 1966 Sollenberger et al. 194-402 X 3/1970 Arzig 194-102 US. Cl. X.R. 1941D2, DIG. 22 

